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Best Ukulele Player for Hire Style Weekly Best Of 2013

A sassy, self-assured, carnie-huckster type, Alison Self is a one-woman ukulele band and a skilled purveyor of, as she says, “old-timey music of different kinds.” Moreover, she’s down to gig and swears she’s affordable. She does weddings, plays in restaurants on weekends, and she’ll even do your kid’s birthday party — if he or she is cool enough. Her dream, she says, is to play a bachelor party. Make it come true. 586-4853.

“Over the years, at various websites and radio stations, I have had the fortune of interviewing some wonderful people. When I read that Alison Self would be appearing Thursday night at our local Parkway Brewery Company, I was intrigued. Her bio was posted on the flier and it read like a quick synopsis of everything I loved about country music – what my grandfather called real music….Her list of cover tunes is a country music history book, featuring the likes of Tanya Tucker, Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn and Hank Williams Sr. Yet, upon listening to her many recordings (most available for free at www.alisonself.com), it is her original tunes which I am looking forward to hearing Thursday night. This mix of honky tonk, done right had me singing along and searching her youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/beautyofsilence?feature=watch for more. She has a can do spirit which shows in the bare bones recordings and a real talent for collaboration evidenced in her many groups and duets, each fitting nicely into the puzzle.”

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“Her voice has impressive range and can accommodate the highs and lows of Bessie Smith, Loretta Lynn and old gospel classics…I remain, as I was before, totally enchanted by Alison Self and her timeless sound.”

“A local folk/Americana treasure….but Alison stole the show. It was either her chilling vocal notes hit perfectly on time and in key, or her ability to get the crowd smiling and attentive with lighthearted oldies like “Wish I was a Single Girl Again.”

“I’ve seen Allison enough to know not to miss her infrequent performances because she has a huge voice unlike any female singer in Richmond and a knack for choosing the ideal vintage material to showcase it.”

“The house was slow to fill up and the show didn’t start on time, but once chanteuse Allison Self opened her mouth to sing, all that was forgotten. If you haven’t heard Allison before, it’s a shock when you first hear this twenty-something’s voice, because it sounds like a vintage 20s or 30s record, maybe something from Lucille Bogan’s era. Although she did a couple of original songs, Allison leans toward covering classic Americana and did so tonight with excellent choices by Loretta Lynn, Gillian Welch and the Memphis Jug Band while accompanying herself on ukulele.”

“Alison Self, playing some covers and some originals from her cleverly named album “Self-Titled,” was simply a delight. I have a sneaking suspicion that she is the type of girl who uses a word like ‘swell’ in her vernacular. She was sweet and yet audacious, whimsical yet sassy, reminiscent of another time, perhaps a time more closely attune to the hay-days of Loretta Lynn and Emmy Lou Harris. Strumming her ukulele, singing soft and clear, Self was an endearing woman who impressed us with the cunning ability to cut the chill of the winter night with her remarkable warmth. The way she sung, and the songs she sings, leads her listeners to a deeper place that was more than a little bittersweet.”